Bob Perkins is an observer of
politics and issues
on
California's Central Coast.
He's a photographer and writer.
Inkwell
Inkwell was a casual experiment with a Nikon D100 camera, with a 50mm Nikkor lens at f1.8 and minimum focus, shooting RAW and processing in Adobe Bridge CS4 and Photoshop CS4. The point was to test the image quality of a shallow depth-of-focus, close-up image in a six megapixel photo processed in various steps. Click on the image to see a larger version that better captures the intended vision.
San Francisco
Even the most urban locations have views like this that give the illusion that you are far away from a city. This spot of greenery is in Golden Gate Park behind the Conservatory.
How I see it
Vision is like opinion; everyone has their own version. It's an axiom that no one can know that anyone else sees light, shadow and color the same as he does. Photographs are a photographer's interpretation of what he saw. The photographer can't know what others will see when they look at his work, so his purpose must be to represent what he sees, to let others find the value in each picture.
I interpret my photos more and more, in an unending attempt to represent what I see. Some people object to this idea, and I sympathize. I started out with the idea that a picture is a "real" representation of reality, and as a journalist I still value that idea. However, it becomes apparent to any student of photography that the process is inherently flawed, for a number of reasons.
Cropping a photo, even a news photo capturing the reality of an event, interprets reality by incorporating parts of a scene and excluding others. Cropping is the basis of a good photo. It directs the eye.
Exposure challenges the photographer to present an image that conveys information to the viewer. Eyes can adjust to a wide range of light to take in whatever the viewer believes is the relevant information. Photographs are limited in their range of light, so the photographer chooses the exposure to interpret what is important in an image.
Color covers a surprising palette, depending on the colors of light illuminating a scene and the colors produced by the subsequent photographic medium. The color of the digital images shown here will vary from one monitor to another. As printed images, they will vary from one printer to another, from one piece of paper to another, from the light used to view them ... and from one eye to another.
Beyond these somewhat mechanical choices imposed by the physical media or the photographer's decisions is an additional and perhaps inevitable interpretation, feeling.
Feeling interprets vision. The eye is its own zoom lens and cropping tool, choosing how much or how little of a scene to "see." The mind assigns importance to certain parts of a scene, leaving memory with an interpretation that may be very different from reality. You can study a scene and remember only the bright red in a dress. Similarly, you can look at a face in an unretouched portrait and discover lines and blemishes that your eye and mind discarded. The photographer interprets his photographs with a purpose to represent a feeling, to transfer that feeling to the viewer.
The tools of digital photography make it easy for the enthusiast to interpret images in ways that were once the province of professional photographers and retouchers.
The pictures here are scenes that appealed to my eye. They are interpreted in different ways to convey what I saw. It's up to you to find the value in each picture.
Click on any picture to see a larger view.
Morro Bay
Morro Bay was a serene view from the waterfront in this scenic coastal city. The edge of Morro Rock, the dramatic sunset, the boat swinging at anchor in the bay and the seabirds flying overhead made an attractive scene.
Salinas Valley
A typical day in the farm lands of the Salinas Valley presented a dramatic combination of fields, farm buildings, clouds and sun dappled hills, enhanced with Photoshop techniques.
Mission San Antonio
This beautiful mission is enhanced by the primitive grounds and location. Unlike many of California's missions which were anchor points for future cities, Mission San Antonio stands in an isolated area of Monterey County that recalls how it looked in 1771 when the mission was established.
Shanghai construction
China's determination increase Shanghai's prominence as an economic and trade power center is illustrated in the frantic construction of new high-rise buildings at night. This view from a boat on the Huang-Po River was a challenging hand-held shot.
